Roses In The Sand
by HisanaKurohana
Summary: Tsubaki may have been one of the few that took a non-negative stance on Gaara before he met Naruto, but she was the only non-relative who had the guts to try to reach out. After all, she knew the truth about him and his mother. But when he ends up shoving her away and almost destroying everything she holds dear, can she return to Suna? And when he becomes Kazekage, can she forgive?
1. A Camellia In Bloodied Sands

The winds blew harshly through Sunagakure, causing the sands to pick up and swirl around the quickly emptying streets in tiny eddies. A sandstorm was coming, and no one wanted to be caught outside. A young boy walked down that street, his head down as his red hair was blown wildly about. He had foam-green eyes thickly rimmed in black, with no eyebrows. Clutched in his hands was a brown teddy bear. Everyone watched him from inside their homes, but no one moved to go get the boy and bring him in before the sands reached the village.

In all honesty, almost everyone watching was seriously hoping he wouldn't make it to shelter in time to avoid the storm. Only one person felt differently; a young girl with long silver hair, tanned skin and purple eyes. She watched him from the window at her ailing mother's bedside, understanding the danger of the storm but not the threat posed by the boy. Her chosen name was Tsubaki Arashi-Tanuki, and she was six years old. Her given name was 15, and she had 14 other siblings all ranging in age from 1 year older than her to being nearly twenty already.

"Momma, why is that boy outside?" Tsubaki asked, pointing outside. Her mother, however, didn't answer. It was her father to look out through the windowpane and scowl when he saw the young redhead, shaking his head and pulling the curtain shut.

"That is not a boy, Fifteen. That is a monster in a boy's body, and you will stay away from it." He rose and walked to the door, glancing once back at them before stepping out into the hall and pulling the door shut behind him. The click of the door's lock sounded a moment later, and Tsubaki walked to the window, looking out at the boy as he made his way further down the street. She knew she would not be leaving her mother's side until morning when Three or Four came to check on the woman. She heard covers shift behind her and turned to see her mother working to sit up in bed.

"You need to rest, momma." Tsu said, hopping down and running to her mother's side. Her small hands were held in frail, much larger ones a moment later, and she smiled up at her mother, missing a tooth. "I love you."

"I love you too, my little dearest." The balding, silver-haired woman pulled herself fully upright and leaned back against the headboard, patting the pillow beside her and smiling as Tsu moved to sit there. Her papery skin was pale and pulled tight over her brittle bones, her slate grey eyes sunken in. One would never have thought that the woman was only in her early forties. "Allow me to tell you a story…"

* * *

Gaara walked in the front doors of the Kazekage Mansion just moments before the order came to bar them. People rushed past him without a word to him, leaving a slight gap of two feet between them and him at the very least. As the young boy walked down a hallway that was seemingly full of Shinobi, they continued giving him this berth. It was like the parting of the seas for Moses and his people, only…they were people and not water, and they were moving away out of fear of his power instead of respect. Also, Gaara had no people nor any desire to lead them somewhere if he did. He was alone. It wasn't like he didn't try to make friends…

"Gaara, come in here." He looked up, wondering who could possibly be talking to him, and saw the smiling face of a young man with short sandy blonde hair and wearing an apron, who was poking his head out of a doorway. "Give me a hand, would you?"

"Uncle Yashamaru!" Gaara ran into the room with a grin. He was so caught up in his gloomy thoughts, he hadn't even considered this guy. As long as he had his uncle…who needed anyone else? The sandstorm he sensed brewing outside and then soon saw blustering towards the village had reached the house, and Yashamaru was trying to block up the windows. Gaara watched him with a frown. "…what can I do?"

"Aahh, I'm almost done anyway, don't worry about it." Yashamaru for some strange reason boarded up the windows (Gaara didn't know about needing to take preventative measures against the glass being shattered by an extreme difference of air pressures on either side) and then sighed as he plopped down on a chair and smiled at Gaara again. "I was starting to get concerned when I realized that was almost on top of the village and you weren't in the house. Surely these storms are dangerous, even for you."

"I don't know, Uncle." Gaara climbed up on the chair and crawled into Yashamaru's lap. He looked at the window, hearing the winds howl outside and then glancing up at his uncle's face. He saw his father walk by the doorway, pausing only for a moment to scowl at the two before moving on.

The next day, Tsubaki woke up bright and early while curled up on her mother's bed. She sat up and immediately went to the window, trying it as she has a hundred times before; like with each and every other one of those times, it didn't budge. The windows of the room had been sealed for years, and the air within was stagnant. At times, it got so stuffy and hot Tsu felt suffocated and sickly herself. Her mother laid on the bed, following the young girl's movements with her eyes alone because she no longer had the strength to move. It felt like hours before Tsubaki heard the click of the bedroom door being unlocked, and then Three poked his head in. He had a head of shaggy dark silver hair that was cut unevenly; some locks reached his collarbone, while others were lucky if they were long enough to reach his ears. His eyes were a greenish slate grey, and he had a wide smile with their mother's long and thin body build.

Tsubaki jumped up and immediately ran out the door past him, not even stopping for breakfast before she darted out of the house and ran down the street. She turned off on the first street she came to, going left before darting into an alley. She met a set of five stairs before she was ready for them however and stumbled before falling into an ungraceful lump of cloth and squirming six-year-old on the sandy ground. When she finally untangled her limbs from her clothes without actually ripping them, she realized she'd caught a flash of red in her peripheral vision.

When she turned, she saw the redheaded boy - a monster, her father had called him - frowning at her, looking amused, concerned, and apprehensive all at once. He didn't speak, and neither did she. In all honesty, neither really knew what to say; Tsubaki because she'd been told two things about him that were the polar opposites of each other, and Gaara because as much as he wanted to speak, he was afraid she would scream about monsters and run away screaming, as those his age and sometimes even older often did. They spent a good two minutes simply staring at each other for a minute, and then Tsubaki flashed him a smile before committing 15% of her Chakra to her hands and then weaving a three sets of six hand signs that Four had shown her, then touching the sands. She changed her chakra nature to a mixture of Earth and Water, then changed its form as it mingled with the sands. At the command of her will, a white camellia with red-tipped petals sprouted from the grains, and she reached to pick the flower and give it to him. But…the sands moved suddenly, lifting the flower and handing it to him before she could.

"It's…how did you do that?" The boy said, holding the stem carefully like he was afraid he would destroy the flower. She stuck her tongue out at him with a giggle and put her hands on her hips, the way she'd seen One do every time someone threw that type of question at her. Only…One had a pretty mane of wavy brown hair that she always tossed back when she did that gesture. Tsu's hair was flat, angel-thin and straight as a board, not to mention as pale a white as a cloud. It would not have been even half as flattering for her to do.

"Mixing Chakra natures is my clan's specialty. I learned Earth and Water so I could create a Flower Release." She pushed her fingers into the sands, and five more of the same flower rose around her hands. She picked them carefully and pulled a ribbon from her pocket, tying them together and holding them out to the boy. "Whad'dya think?"

"How can you do that in the sand? I thought plants needed nutrients…surely delicate flowers like that can't really be made to grow in the desert so easily." The boy took the bouquet and added the flower he was already holding to it and frowned at her again. Tsubaki frowned back and stood up, putting her hands on her hips.

"You just saw me do it. Flowers are my art, I don't care if they don't usually grow in the desert." She grabbed his hand and began walking down the alley, pulling him with her. After a few moments he stopped, and when she turned to ask why, he was staring down at his hand in hers with an odd look on his face. "O-oh! I haven't even introduced myself, have I? I call myself Tsubaki Arashi-Tanuki…though, my birth certificate just says Fifteen."

"I am Gaara." She tugged his hand again, but he refused to budge. She sighed and pulled out a kunai, sitting down on the floor and drawing two vertical lines running parallel to each other, then two horizontal lines running parallel to each other through those lines, until she had a picture that looked like this: #. Then she drew a box around it and held the kunai out to Gaara, who was watching her. "Tsubaki-chan, what are you doing?"

"Drawing a tic-tac-toe game. Here, you start. Pick either X's or O's as your symbol, and I'll use the other." She smiled as he took the kunai and sat down, drawing an X in the corner closest to her left knee. He handed her the kunai, and she drew an O dead center. "You know how to play, right?"

"Um…" Gaara tilted his head to the side, and Tsubaki sighed. She spent a good five or so minutes explaining the basics to him, and then they played for a couple of hours until it came time for Tsubaki to go home. Gaara followed her until they almost reached the house, which was when she turned and told him it might not be a good idea for him to tag along any further.

* * *

The next day, Tsubaki rushed out to where she'd found Gaara. It was where they'd agreed to meet back up at, but…he wasn't there. The villagers were gathering in corners and whispering, so she stepped closer and listened carefully. They were always whispering about things, so she usually never paid it any heed, but today…there was something that just seemed wrong. They looked so serious, and their harsh low voices sounded urgently upset.

"…can't believe…"  
"…killed his own uncle…"  
"…monster!"

What? Tsubaki frowned and ran off down the street, wondering if maybe Gaara had gotten lost or stopped at the wrong spot. She didn't know what they were talking about, but if there was a killer on the loose, then it was a good idea for her to find him and get him somewhere out of the way. "Gaa-kun!"

"Hush, kid! Don't call that demon." A man pulled the back of her shirt and then covered her mouth with his calloused hand, making a show of looking around. She frowned and bit his hand, darting quickly away while he hollered. She ran away again when he made another lunge at her, and finally saw Gaara in her peripherals. He was standing in a dark alleyway, back to her with his head down. Sands swirled wildly around him, which she thought was strange. There was…hardly any breeze at all that day. He didn't seem to have noticed her.

"Gaa-kun! There you are." She ran into the alley, where the man jolted to an abrupt halt behind her. She only glanced back once, and then was throwing her arms around the boy, who stiffened. Sand brushed against her bare legs, and it felt…wet? She looked down, and there was a dark red smear going across her shin. She finally looked at what was in front of him and drew a startled gasp. There on the floor laid the bloody and broken figure of a shinobi, mouth open in a wail of agony that was never able to escape. "G-Gaara…kun…what…"

"He was trying to kill me." A wave of sand knocked her sideways, away from Gaara, and then pinned her to the wall. He turned to her, and she saw blood dripping down over his left eye, coming from where the kanji for "love" was carved into his forehead. His face was stained with tears, though his wide feral eyes had long dried up. He took one step towards her, then another. Gripped in his hands was the bouquet she gave him the day before, covered in blood with all of the stems broken and most of the petals gone from clearly having been thrown, stepped on, and held far too tightly. "They all want me dead, Tsubaki. Even you, huh? That's what this was all about-" he shook the bouquet in his hand at her, and she flinched away, "-just trying to make me care about you so that it would hurt even more when you went for my throat. It's why you didn't want to be seen with me walking home. Too bad for you, someone beat you to the punch last night."

"No, Gaa-k-" The sands suddenly began to crush in on her, pressing her against the wall so tightly she found she couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. A howl of rage sounded from the end of the alley, and they both turned in time to see the man who had followed her finally kick into action, pulling out kunai and launching them at Gaara. The sand that pinned Tsubaki suddenly swept away and wrapped around the man after catching the kunai. He spat blood a moment later, and Gaara smirked before squeezing his hand in a tight fist. Tsubaki…heard every bone in the man's body break. He turned to look at her then, still smiling even though his face was contorted into a mask of fury and despair. "Gaara…"

"Shut up." Sand struck her sideways again, only this time it didn't pin her. It returned to his side, and he turned to face Tsubaki as she slowly forced herself to stand. Her eyes were watering as she started walking towards him again, arms out. Gaara watched her for a moment, and then narrowed his eyes as he gazed down at her feet. Or, more specifically, her left ankle. Sand wrapped around it a moment later, and the leg was tugged right out from under her. She yanked it loose and stood up again, walking towards him. He swung his left arm, and as she suddenly found herself spinning sideways, she blacked out.


	2. He Never Really Got Over It

Author's Note: Seriously sorry if that first chapter was awkward. It wasn't as long as I'd intended it to be, and I forgot a lot of what I wanted to put in it. I've already planned this story all the way past the Fourth Shinobi War…and I forget the details as I type.

* * *

4 Years Later

Tsubaki walked down the street, watching people wander between stores. She was always on the lookout for any sign of short red hair, even though she was seriously forbidden from attempting any further interaction with Gaara. Her friend Rukielle was with her, chattering on about the ins and outs of the puppet master jutsu and the importance of learning to build one's own puppets and maintain a large collection. As they were both still nothing more than Academy students and Fifteen herself was not learning that kind of technique, Tsu really wasn't particularly interested or impressed.

"Hey, are you listening?" Rukielle grabbed Tsubaki's hair and tugged her backwards, something she had a bad habit of doing whenever she wanted Arashi's attention. Someone brushed against her left shoulder, suddenly shoving her over so hard she nearly fell. When she looked, it was Gaara; he was glaring back over his shoulder at her, gourd of sand thankfully corked-up. He notably slowed once he got a few feet away, even though he stopped looking at her. "You really need to stop messing with that thing. He's starting to stalk you, and always makes eyes at you like you're dinner or something."

"You do what you like, but I am not leaving Gaara alone." Rukielle sighed in exasperation at her friend and dragged her off, shaking her head when she looked behind Tsubaki and saw the redheaded boy subtly changing his course in a way that would conveniently allow for him to stay behind them. Tsubaki looked back once and caught his gaze; the only appropriate descriptive word for the look in his eyes was murderous, even though his actual face was deceptively calm.

"Why are you doing this? You know he's going to kill you." Ruki took a sudden detour off onto a side alley, following it as it wound left, then right, then turning left onto another alley that was connected, then turning right when she reached the end of the alley and found herself on a street. The girl broke into a run across the street, making Tsubaki run too. But by the time they reached the next alley, Gaara was already in the middle of the street, gaze steadily following them.

"Because." Tsubaki narrowed her own eyes, looking down at the sand. She always refused to talk to people about her reasons for trying so hard to be friendly to the sociopath that was constantly beating her senseless. Most of the villagers had finally come to the conclusion that sometime during the beginning, Gaara had literally knocked the sense right out of her. Or perhaps she never had any sense to begin with…

After twenty minutes of running around while Rukielle futilely attempted to lose the Jinchuuriki host, they finally reached their destination; a serious of greenhouses near the medical bay. Tsubaki practically worked here, given her Chakra-enhanced knack for growing things. If the hospital needed herbs, they got it almost immediately. She was simultaneously working with the growers to try and create special herbs that produce more of the desired nutrients/chemicals, but take up less room. Tsubaki also had something of a hand in the village's food production, since she was capable of making nearly anything grow, in any environment. Her Flower Release had been recognized even by the Kazekage, only they called it the Plant or Nature Release.

Tsubaki walked into Greenhouse 1 and walked down each of the aisles, trailing her fingertips over the leaves, petals, vines, and stems of the various plants being grown within as she drew a deep breath and smiled, closing her eyes. She loved the smell of these houses, even though Rukielle tended to complain about the humidity and stuffiness, always saying she was just going to wait outside whenever she came along. Finishing the beginning walkthrough, she stepped back down the aisles, inspecting each individual plant for signs of bad health, under- or over-watering, or any parasites. Then she stuck her fingers into the soils to determine their quality, crumbling it between her fingers and observing the color, darkness or lightness, etc. She took note of which herbs were in short supply and then walked into an adjacent room which was clearly not part of the greenhouse.

It was the same temperature as the desert directly outside the building's walls, with no plants in it. There was no humidity, and the smells of soil and plants were virtually absent. Instead, there were counters, cabinets, stools, a sink, gardening supplies, and in a tub sat lab equipment. Pulling open a drawer labeled seeds, Tsubaki pulled out a bag of licorice, peppermint, feverfew, and skullcap. With four bags in tow, she walked back into the room- and stopped dead.

Gaara was standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed over his chest, watching her impassively. Tsubaki faltered for only a minute, then kicked back into gear, shooting him a smile and walking to where the licorice potters were, opening up holes in the dirt and sprinkling in new seeds. "Good morning, Sabakkun." She covered those seeds up and picked up a pale of water that was sitting under one of the plant tables, wetting the soil before weaving hand signs. "Nature Release: Growth Acceleration Jutsu."

As a green glow erupted from her hands and rained down on the soil, those seeds began to sprout, taking root and quickly growing up through the soil. The stems steadily grew to fifteen inches in height, thickening and developing leaves as they matured at an accelerated rate. Nearby herbs responded and began to grow as well as they were struck by residual chakra from the technique. She ended the jutsu and walked to the next skullcap potter, seeing that there was enough still present for her not to have to worry about actually growing the plants immediately. She planted the seeds and walked off down the aisle, passing directly by Gaara, who turned slowly to watch her. Tsubaki could practically hear him ticking. Finally, he spoke. "So this is it, huh."

"Hm?" Tsu blinked up at the disappointedly bored sounding boy, tilting her head. When he did nothing more than glare at her, she put her head back down to her work and smiled lightly. "Some elaboration is required, I'm afraid."

"Your Nature Release that commands so much respect in the village. It's nothing more than that pathetic Flower Release you showed me, renamed." Tsubaki looked up, and he began walking towards her. "Only now it's not just some weak little girl's toy, but something you're using to…what? _Help _people? Ridiculous."

"There's nothing ridiculous about doing everything in your power to take care of as many people as you possibly can." Tsubaki stood up and turned to face him, leaving her arms down at her sides and keeping her voice light, friendly. She smiled and took a step towards Gaara, who immediately narrowed his eyes at her; a warning she recognized well already, and didn't move an inch.

"Everything in your power…to take care of people? No. You have no power." Gaara threw both his hands up, and suddenly sand erupted throughout the room, tossing every potted plant off of its shelf and spilling soil and displaced herbs everywhere. A few vases broke, the shards mixing in with the…blood-coated sand? "Remember that you are in my dessert, little Camellia. And my dessert will snuff out every last one of your weak, fragile flowers…as well as you."

It finally dawned on Tsubaki that Rukielle would have said something if she'd seen Gaara coming up again. And yet…she hadn't heard a peep out of the girl. She tensed at the thought, and Gaara swung an arm out like he was going to backhand her. Only, instead of being struck by his hand, she was knocked through the window by a blast of sand. Tsubaki landed on something hard and wet, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. 'I will not look…' She slowly forced herself to sit up, hearing sand slam against the greenhouse wall and tear it down the rest of the way. Tsubaki looked up in time to see him walking out through the hole. "I'd like to challenge your theory…Gaa-kun."

A muscle ticked under his eye, and he scowled at her. She pulled out a kunai and pointed it at him; a useless gesture, they both knew. At least, on its own… Instead of actually attacking him head-on, she jumped up onto the roof of Green House 2, ran to the edge, and jumped onto the roof of the third on the row. Sure enough, Gaara tailed Tsubaki, riding on his sand and uttering a low growl. Hurriedly, she scaled the wall that surrounded the Hidden Sand village, smirking at a startled sentry as she jumped up where he was doing his rounds and then darted past him. Before he could shout much of anything, sand cut him off. Tsubaki felt…guilty, but didn't look back to see whether or not the shinobi had been killed.

As she darted across the sands outside the village, it occurred to her that Gaara had a huge advantage; the entire desert constituted as his weapon. That was a ton of sand…and of course, as she was thinking this, said sand suddenly turned into three spikes, all of which pierced her chest. Only, when that happened, she burst into a mix of smoke and white camellias. "Enough running, little Camellia." Gaara said, already looking below and behind when the real Tsubaki emerged from the sands beneath his feet, swinging her right arm in a wide arc in an attempt to slice the back of his legs with her kunai.

Her blade was blocked by the sand, which fell away when Tsubaki pulled her hand back with a gasp of pain as the shock traveled up her arm. Gaara raised his left leg and aimed a kick back at her forehead, and she grabbed his foot with her left hand as she pulled herself up and out of the sands. "Nature Release: Crawling Vines." Tsubaki released Gaara's foot and slammed her hands down into the sand at their feet, using her chakra to grow a massive vine plant; part of the purpose it served was to pull her the rest of the way out of the sand, while it was mostly meant to reduce how freely Gaara could manipulate the dessert sands to blindside her. The vines grew out, thickened, criss-crossed, grew leaves and smaller vines that branched off, and eventually covered an area of 50 ft around in three foot thick vines and five foot long heart-shaped leaves. Gaara had to constantly walk and jump just to keep from getting swept away by it.

"Hmph…don't think that will be enough to save you." Gaara said, watching as Tsubaki jumped up and ran at him, swinging for another punch, and again the sand blocked her. Gaara then summoned sand from his gourd to smash down on her from directly above, and upon being hit she once again exploded into nothing but a puff of smoke and white flowers. Through that, he saw her poking her head up out from under a leaf.

Strange orb-shaped buds began to form on the vines, growing to be the size of a small child. They slowly blossomed out, revealing row after row of white, red-tipped petals. As the winds blew, the smell of flowers reached Gaara's nose, and he noticed strange…things, floating on the breeze. He breathed normally, then realized his body was beginning to go numb. 'Airborne toxins?' Gaara scowled at Tsubaki, who was standing still, and surrounded himself with sand in the form of his Ultimate Defense. He was beginning to activate his Third Eye jutsu when he realized something was wrong.

Vines were beginning to weave through his sand like it was nothing, even though he'd solidified it to the point where it was hard as steel. He was continuing to feel numb, and smelled the flowers from outside. 'Impossible…' Gaara went down on one knee with a gasp, then snapped his gaze back behind him, where a cluster of those flowers were in full bloom. With him, in a small, enclosed space… It was from them, it seemed, that these vines were growing. As he watched, buds developed on these vines, and also began to bloom. He fell back as he lost control of his chakra.

From outside, Tsubaki watched as her vines tunneled through the sands and continued to give Gaara a steady dose of Sylira - a special chemical she designed to be produced by this particular flower she spent the past year working to create specifically for dealing with him: the Sacred Rose. It actually more closely resembled a lily or camellia, but…she liked the ring of Sacred Rose better. Sylira was something that messed with the nervous system; it blocked most of the electrical signals sent to the body's voluntary muscles, as well as disorienting parts of the brain so that the victim lost track of time as well as became unable to perform anything that required much concentration, for instance…chakra manipulation. While it probably only felt like a few seconds for him, it had actually been closer to ten minutes since he'd closed himself in with the blossom. He also had failed to realize there were seeds from the flower inside his body slowly draining his chakra, as well as in the sand itself.

She was pumping her specialized chakra into the plant under their feet, which radiated into that sand and caused it to germinate and grow quickly, tearing through his already weakened defense. Because he was already disoriented, he hadn't noticed. Tsubaki had to be very careful to send a chakra pulse that killed the seeds Gaara had unwittingly inhaled before he started coughing up rose petals, too. As the sand fell, she rose and walked the ten yards to his side, where he laid staring dazedly up at the sun, now high in the sky. The blossoms closed, and as Tsubaki kneeled next to him, she opened his mouth and sent ten thread-thin vines down his windpipe, which carefully poked and prodded around in his lungs until they found the seeds and pulled them back up. In the meantime, she squeezed both his thumbs, preventing his already hazy brain from recognizing any discomfort and initiating a gag reflex. As the last of the vines pulled out of his mouth, he finally seemed to register her presence at his side. "Are you…going to finish…me?"

Tsubaki smiled and shook her head, and his brows (or at least, where his brows should have been) furrowed. He reached slowly up like he was trying to touch her face, but when he couldn't seem to make his arm go that high, settled for her shoulder. From there, he slid his hand to her neck, wrapping his fingers around and clearly trying to squeeze, but he still didn't have the strength for that. When he finally dropped his hand, he looked frustrated. "Not today, or any other for that matter."

"Why…?" Gaara made a noise that sounded like an attempted growl, but…it more closely resembled the sound of a drowning cat (not that I know for sure what that sounds like, just btw… ^-^'). Tsubaki just pulled him up on his feet and started tugging him towards the village. Around them, the enormous plant began to shrivel up and die. Gaara watched it as they made their slow progress, then dropped his head against Tsu's shoulder. "You will…regret leaving me alive. Just as the sands strangle your plant under the sun…I will strangle you. I will destroy…everything…all because you lacked intent."

"You'll have to beat me and my 'pathetic' Nature Release first…" Tsubaki said softly. In the distance, she saw several running forms. A boy all in black, with a face all marked up in purple paint approached, as well as a blonde in a short purple dress with a fan on her back. When they finally got closer, Tsubaki realized it was Kankuro and Temari, Gaara's team mates, both wearing expressions of shock. "Don't worry, he's not going to die."

"As if they…care." Gaara muttered, earning an irritated glare from Kankuro. Temari took his left arm, Kankuro took his right, and then they darted off back to the village, leaving Tsubaki alone. Temari at the last moment looked back over her shoulder at Tsubaki, and then they were running through the gate.


	3. A New Designation

The next day, Tsubaki reported in to the Kazekage on a summons. He was waiting in his office, with his two eldest children standing in the far corner. A few other shinobi gathered around the room, observing in silence. Gaara, of course, was absent. Lord Fourth leaned back in his chair with his hands folded in his lap as he watched the girl walk into the room, close the door behind her, and bow. He got straight to business. "You are Fifteen, the girl who defeated my youngest son, the Jinchuuriki host of Shukaku yesterday?"

"A-ah…yes, sir." She took a step back, frowning. Perhaps she should not have challenged the boy; it gained her considerable unwanted attention. She couldn't help but notice a folded up beige cloth on his desk, and wonder what it was. "Am I in trouble?"

"Certainly not. I simply feel that I must acknowledge your skill, now more than ever. Tell me, how did you do it? And…what stayed your hand, when it came time to deliver the killing blow?" The Kazekage stood up, walking around the desk and picking up the folded cloth. Standing in front of the desk, he folded his hands over his chest and leaned back against it. Tsubaki looked up into his eyes, seeing…something cold and calculating. Something…giddy, about the light she saw there. Her own purple eyes widened in alarm. Could he be…actually planning to use her to finally destroy his son?

"As you may know, sir…I have a kekkei genkai. That is what I used. It was only my intention to subdue, not kill. I…am not even sure that counts as a real fight for him." She wasn't sure why she'd initiated the…squabble, at all. Perhaps to show him that she was stronger than he thought, or…was she hoping he would respect her? She bowed her head with a sigh.

She heard footsteps, and then the Kazekage was kneeling in front of her, cupping her chin in one hand and forcing her to meet his gaze. "You had the power to destroy that uncontrollable monster, and yet…?"

"I only ever intended that 'power' to be used to produce medicine and food for the village. Answer a few questions for me, if you would." Tsubaki met his gaze directly, feeling a little sad. That sadness reached her voice, and was met with a look from the Kazekage that she didn't really recognize. He straightened and turned away, beginning to walk back to his desk as his arms fell down to his sides. "About Gaara, no holds barred."

"Very well, ask your questions." He said, slumping down in his desk with a sigh and propping his head up with one hand as he looked dispassionately at the young Academy Student. She glanced at Kankuro, Temari, and the few others in the room, and was met with…equally strange looks. Some were hateful, or disgusted…Kankuro and Temari simply didn't seem to know what to think of where the conversation was going.

"First off, why did you seal the Shukaku inside your son?" She sat down on the floor, glancing up at him.

"To provide my village with a powerful weapon. When that clearly didn't work because he could not be controlled, I ordered his assassination." The Kazekage raised a brow at her. "Next question?"

"You ordered his assasination. He was just a small child, and still trusted people. It would not have been so difficult for you to have simply tricked him into allowing for the Shukaku to be removed. The end results would have been the same, right? Instead, you've sent countless Shinobi to their deaths, including his very own uncle. What you really want is not his death, but…his madness. His willingness to do anything to survive, for him to be constantly on guard." Tsubaki looked him dead in the eye, anger slowly beginning to rise and simmer. How could anyone do that to their own family? "The village fears and hates him for what he's become. You hate him, as well, and yet…he is exactly what you wanted him to be, no? Am I to be the next villager sacrificed for the sake of torturing your son?"

"You misunderstand-" The Kazekage said as he slowly stood up, and with a growl Tsubaki jumped to her feet, shaking her head and pointing an accusing finger at him. A few of the shinobi in the room shuffled uncomfortably, going on the defensive. All aside from Kankuro, Temari, who simply gaped at her, and a random genin, who watched her stoicly. The Lord Fourth held up his hands, a stand-down gesture.

"I misunderstand nothing. Remember, my mother was there the day he was born. And…you are responsible for what Gaara does, as well as every other person who shuns him. He may wield the weapon, but this village as a whole wears the blood of his victims on its hands." Shaking with anger, Tsubaki jabbed her finger at the Kazekage, who looked shocked. "Especially you."

The Kazekage gave her a long look and then burst out laughing, walking around the desk again as he strode towards her. She tensed, as though she expected to be attacked. Instead, he placed a hand on her head…and her tongue started burning. She fell to her knees and screamed, covering her mouth. At the same time, she felt something being tied around her neck. After a few moments, the pain died down, and she slowly sat up.

"Congratulations. In spite of this…outburst, I have promoted you to Genin in response to the skill you displayed yesterday…before anyone else in your year. If you're curious about the burning in your mouth, it's a curse mark; you may not speak of Karura again, so long as I live. I do not know what your deranged mother told you, but I do not need such poisonous lies spreading." Tsubaki slowly stood and touched the beige band around her neck, feeling the cool smoothness of metal. She looked up at him, unsure whether to glare or thank him. He waved a hand at her before she could open her mouth and walked away. "You will be assigned to a special squad, and finish your education on the run while completing real missions. They leave for one such assignment tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning; meet them at the North Gate. Now, you are dismissed, Fifteen."

Tsubaki nodded slowly and spun, exiting the room and rushing out of the building. So then…if she was suddenly no longer an Academy Student…what was she going to do today? Until tomorrow, her schedule was surprisingly…empty. She wandered down the street, in a confused daze. People who noticed her were actually backing away. How…odd. On top of that, the Kazekage had denounced her knowledge as a lie while at the same time sealing her tongue so she could not repeat it. If it really wasn't the truth, then what did he have to be afraid of? 'I…shouldn't have said anything. Now I can't even use it to try and talk Gaara down.' Feeling numb, she finally decided to just go home.

Back inside the Kazekage's Office, one of the shinobi, a man with dark eyes, tan skin, and brown hair, who had been observing and very careful not to react to any of what he saw and heard, picked up a stack of scrolls and exited the room quietly while the Lord Fourth exchanged glances with Kankuro and Temari. He walked down the hall a ways, then paused in front of a window, watching Tsubaki go. His face began to crack, then fell away in tiny chunks, revealing black-rimmed sea-foam green eyes, a few strands of red hair, and a bright red scar of the kanji for "Love". When the girl disappeared from view, he continued walking down the hall, disappearing into one of the doors on the left before anyone else saw him.

The Kazekage soon dismissed Kankuro and Temari, then all but two of the jonin that were in the room. When the door clicked shut, he commanded them to stand directly in front of him, rising from his seat. Now, before the Lord Fourth was a man and a woman; the man had spiky black hair, almond shaped eyes and scars that ran the length of his face in all different directions. He had on a light tan standard issue Sand nin vest, a hitai-ate headband that he wore over his forehead, and brown fatigues. His arms were bare, showing off his muscles and deeply tanned skin.

The woman had blue hair tied up in a ponytail that reached her mid back, with slate grey piercing eyes. Her face was slit from the corner of her left eye, all the way down to her jaw, and then stitched up. Her skin was corpse-pale, and she had a black jacket on that reached all the way up her neck, hugging her figure, and from underneath it ran the skirt of a white dress. She had on black stockings, with bandages wrapped around her left thigh where her weapons holster went. Tied to her right arm was a hitai-ate of the Sand. Lips painted grey parted as she started the conversation, narrowing her eyes as she tilted her head forward in something of a nodding bow. "So, what do you intend to do?"

"First off," The Kazekage began slowly, "we need to systematically erase the village's memory of yesterday's events. I did not mention that part, but Tsubaki also cannot speak of her brush-up with Gaara. Kusari, I believe you are able to seal the peoples' memories while they sleep using a genjutsu, yes?"

"Of course, my lord." She bowed low, closing her eyes, and he nodded. The man tilted his head to the side and ground his teeth, waiting to learn what his part was going to be. The Kazekage glanced at him and turned to look out his office window at the sky before he began to speak again. "I intend to work her like a mule until she either dies in action, or is caught off guard and finally ended by Gaara. Which…should not take very long at all, considering how naïve she is. Fifteen herself is no threat; it's her rambling mother and house full of retainers that is the problem. The girl has long since been written off as a basket case, but people still listen to Saya Arashi. I want her silenced sometime in the near future."

"Is that where I come in?" The man, known as Sochishiru, smirked, leaning forward to brace both his hands against the Kazekage's desk. "The reason she is ailing is because she's a schizophrenic…and her family has been at once poisoning and medicating her to keep her from randomly snapping and killing people. I believe she was responsible for the deaths of Eleven and Sixteen during a midnight rampage she went on once."

"You are correct…finishing her off should be a simple matter. As I said, in the near future…I don't really care about when, considering she is kept confined to her bed." Lord Fourth strode to the door, waving his hand in dismissal. They followed him as he walked out into the hall. "If she does not die within the next year or so, I will pit her against Gaara again. He will not fail a second time, I can guarantee it."

"Giving your express blessing to slaughter someone…what if he opts out, just to spite you?" Kusari said, glancing out a window as she walked past him. The Kazekage caught her shoulder and pulled her back, spinning her to face him.

"He wouldn't. He doesn't care about the circumstances, only that he gets to kill. I can absolutely guarantee he'd kill her, if he hasn't already by then." He waved them off then, and they walked past him, down the hall, turning right at the end to walk down a flight of stairs and head out the front doors of the Kazekage's mansion. He didn't expect to meet them again for a while; Kusari's only directive was to wipe peoples' memory of Tsubaki's offensive use of her kekkei genkai against Gaara, and Sochishiru was a slacker who would put off the death of Saya for a decade if he was allowed to.


End file.
